Alpine Avenue Christian Reformed Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Alpine Avenue CRC, Grand Rapids, MI, 1881-1992

History

Alpine Avenue (also known as Third) Christian Reformed Church was organized in 1881 by members of First CRC. Alpine Avenue was the third Christian Reformed congregation in Grand Rapids, Michigan, after First (1857, downtown) and East Street (1879, now Eastern Avenue) - and the first Reformed congregation on the west side of the Grand River.

The 1880 U.S. Census had counted 32,016 residents in Grand Rapids, nearly twice the population of a decade earlier. The Dutch-born population had grown at a faster rate. This census counted 7,110 Dutch-born, 2.4 times as many as in 1870. Not counting their American-born offspring, this represented 22% of the Grand Rapids population, the highest level in any census.

Alpine Avenue merged with Highland Hills in 1992 to form Westend CRC.

Historical Details

Location

• 960 Alpine NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49504 (built 1904)

Pastors

1. Willem Hendrik Frieling, 1882-86
2. Peter Ekster, 1886-1905
3. Samuel (Sietse) Volbeda, 1905-11
4. John (Jan) Van Lonkhuyzen, 1911-18
5. Peter A. Hoekstra, 1919-27
6. William Masselink Sr., 1928-42
7. Peter Ymen De Jong, 1942-48
8. John Thomas Holwerda, 1948-54
9. Arthur William Hoogstrate, 1954-61
10. George P. Holwerda, 1961-66
11. John Henry Bergsma, 1966-90

Daughter Churches

1. Crosby Street (now West Leonard), 1888
2. Broadway Avenue (now Westview), 1893
3. Twelfth Street, 1917, cosponsored with West Leonard
4. Front Street Mission, 1948-62

Membership Overview

Total membership peaked circa 1910 and dropped drastically when Twelfth Street church was launched in 1917. The professing membership peak came circa 1950, and from that point forward, Alpine Avenue CRC went into long-term decline.

Membership data, Alpine Ave. CRC, Grand Rapids, MI

Overall Membership Data

Green (lower) line shows membership in families; blue (middle), professing members; red (top), total members; and magenta (thin), non-professing members.

Youth ratio, Alpine Ave CRC, Grand Rapids, MI

Youth Ratio

Red line shows nonprofessing members as a percentage of total membership.

Five year growth rate, Alpine Ave CRC, Grand Rapids, MI

Five Year Growth Rate

Red line shows five year growth rate. A five year growth rate between 10% and -10% is considered stable; greater than 10% indicates a growing congregation; one below -10% indicates a church in decline. This makes no allowance for daughter churches.

Data source: Yearbooks of the Christian Reformed Church. Dates are year prior to publication date since data is gathered at the end of one year and published in the next.